THE controversial film, based on Ferris's memoirs, had to be shot in London after Strathclyde Police and Glasgow City Council refused permission for it to be made in Glasgow.

THE proceeds of the new Paul Ferris film should be donated to communities scarred by violence, a former police chief said yesterday.

Graeme Pearson, who was in charge of the special police force responsible for tackling organised crime groups, said the convicted gun-runner should not benefit financially from The Wee Man, which is released on Friday.

Pearson, who is now a Labour MSP, added: “I would hate to think that any profits generated by this film would end up in the hands of criminals.”

Joe Jackson, former head of Strathclyde’s Serious Crime Squad, also condemned the movie.

He said: “Ferris is a nasty piece of work who has committed the most heinous crimes. He should not be glorified in any shape or form.”

The controversial biopic had to be filmed in London after Strathclyde Police and Glasgow City Council refused permission for it to be shot in Glasgow.

Based on Ferris’s memoirs, it stars Martin Compston as the gangster, Denis Lawson as Ferris snr and John Hannah as Tam “The Licensee” McGraw.

The movie charts Ferris’s violent rise through the Glasgow underworld in the 70s and 80s and his role as an enforcer for Arthur Thompson.

Paul Ferris walking from Glasgow High Court after being found not guilty of the murder of Arthur Thompson

But the two respected former policemen yesterday told the Record it should never have been made.

Pearson, who was the director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, said: “It’s a pity that so much human effort has gone into producing a film which seems to glorify and analyse criminality instead of all the good things that go on in Glasgow.

“Given the misery that Glasgow has suffered at the hands of organised crime over the decades, I would like to see the profits going to groups who try to repair the communities who have been so badly damaged.”

Pearson said he won’t watch the film, adding: “It’s bad enough having seen it first-hand without seeing any drama about it.”

He added: “The problem for me is that this film deals with people’s lives, some of whom are still alive and don’t have the opportunity to respond. The truth, or otherwise, will be somewhere out there.

“The dramatic depiction of criminality no doubt will be glamorised and victims will be further victimised by the fact that people see it now as entertainment.”

Jackson also said he was appalled that Ferris’s story has made it to the big screen.

The Chasing Killers author said: “I think it is disgraceful – to think that he should be making money from the nefarious situations he has been involved in.”

Jackson said Ferris remained criminally active even when he was claiming to have put his past behind him.

Daily Record

The Wee Man film poster

He said: “When I left the police, I went to a firm as head of security.

“While I was there, I was approached by a chap on behalf of Ferris to cover my firm and make sure none of the proceeds from the firm were stolen.

“When he was supposed to be a businessman, he was involved in extortion.”

Jackson said he reported the approach, made in Glasgow in the early 90s, to the police.

He added: “Ferris was a very, very dangerous wee man, there is no doubt about that.

“He would use guns, he would use knives and he was really quite ruthless.

“Age has mellowed him a bit but that does not excuse him from the crimes he did commit.”

Jackson said: “If the misguided people who have made the film have got any sense at all then they will support the idea of putting the proceeds towards helping victims of crime.”

Twenty years ago, Ferris walked free after a 54-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow when he was found not guilty of the 1991 murder of Arthur Thompson jnr.

Six years later, he got a 10-year sentence at the Old Bailey for gun-running.

Back on the streets in 2002, he vowed to turn his back on crime.

Ferris, 49, calls himself a human resources consultant on LinkedIn, a website for networking professionals – but he remains firmly on the police radar.

Last February, detectives and HMRC investigators swooped on the £515,000 Ayrshire farmhouse he and his wife Caroline bought in 2008. He was quizzed for six hours about “tax matters”.

The Crown Office said: “We received a report in relation to a 49-year-old man in connection with offences alleged to have taken place between 2005 and 2011. It remains under consideration.”

Strathclyde Police also voiced suspicions about Ferris in 2010, when they failed to shut down £4million-a-year security firm Proview CCTV Services.

The Stirling firm were wound up in October 2011.

Victim Support Scotland last night said they would welcome a cheque from the gangster on the back of his royalties from the film.

A spokesman for the charity said: “It would be a generous gesture but it is very much a matter for Mr Ferris.”

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